We're Going to the Backyard
by mionemobp
Summary: And we're gonnna get marrrrried. This is the story of James and Lily's wedding.


This was it. Lily's wedding day. The day that she was going to get married to the man she swore she never would, back in first year. It was strange how things changed in seven years. How attitudes can change, and how people's maturity can change. Lily didn't have much time to ponder it, before her cousin, Mina, and her best friend, Laura, scrambled into the room.

"Hurry up Lily. Your mother is waiting for you to get all pampered so she can help you get ready." Lily smiled at Laura. She would be her maid of honor, because while they had been at Hogwarts together, they had gotten to know each other. Lily loved Mina, but she was five, so she would be her flower girl.

Lily ran to take a shower, trying to hurry and get as clean and fresh as possible on that perfect spring day. She tried to hurry, but ended up taking her time to get clean. The wedding wasn't for three hours, so she could take her time if she pleased.

After she finished, she walked back to her bedroom and telling Mina to go and fetch her mum to help her get ready. Her mother would be doing her hair and Laura would be doing her makeup, just like she always had at school. As she anticipated, the hair took longer, but it ended up being beautiful. It was a simple, yet gorgeous bun, that instead of being on the back of her head, was on the side.

Laura had already finished with Lily's make up, and was getting Lily's underthings ready, since they needed to hurry along. Laura and the others (Lily's other friends, Melissa, Rebekah, and Carla would be her bridesmaids, since Petunia refused to participate, or even be there) had to get ready. The others already were getting ready, but they still needed to hurry.

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On the other side of the wedding, James was freaking out. Hyperventilating. He was about to marry the girl of his dreams, the girl he had been pursuing for seven years. It all seemed like a big dream to him.

"Padfoot, Pinch me."

Rather than pinching him, Sirius, his best man, slapped him on the back, hard.

"Ow. That hurt."

"You big baby. Now hurry up. We need to be there in half an hour."

"But the wedding isn't for an hour and a half."

"I know Prongs, but the man has to be there before the girl. Besides, even if the guy didn't, you do. You owe it to Lily to make sure everything is fine. She did plan everything herself."

"Good point. Since when did you get so smart."

"Oh shut up."

James ran down the hall to wake Remus, Peter, and Joshua up. After that, they all scrambled to get ready in time to get to the Evans' backyard, where the wedding was to take place. He could faintly see the bridesmaids get ready and talking. Laura spotted him and smirked, before closing the blinds.

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.

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That last hour before the wedding passed in a blur. Lily was shaking, and she looked like she was about to cry. "I can't do this. I can't get married. I can't, I can't."

"Lily Marie Evans, you stop that. You can marry him, and you will."

"I just barely finished school. It's too early. I can't."

"Why? Other than that?"

"What if, after we're married, he decides he's done chasing, and wants out?"

"Oh Lily," Laura laid Lily's head on her shoulder. "He is not going to toss you aside. He is going to still love you. No matter what. I guarantee it."

"But what if he does?"

"He asked you to marry you, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"If he didn't want to marry you, he wouldn't have asked."

"You're right."

"I know I am. Now up you get. We have a marriage to make."

"Alright."

Laura did a spell that made it look like Lily hadn't just cried, and they walked down, to where Lily's father was standing.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

The music cued, and the girls walked out. Mina, Carla, Rebekah, Michelle, and then Laura. The traditional wedding music played and Lily and her father walked out slowly. It was strange, and though she couldn't believe it, she couldn't stop smiling about it. Her friends from school were there, as well as some of her professors.

Professor Dumbledore was sitting at the front of the yard, right next to James. The moment Lily saw him, she grinned, before her father kissed her on the cheek. She stood up at the altar, holding his hands.

"We are gathered here today to witness the coming together of two people, James Andrew Potter and Lily Marie Evans, whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one. They now desire to profess before all the world their intention henceforth to walk the road of life together.

To these two young people, this marriage signifies the birth of a new spirit, a spirit which is a part of each of us, yet not of any one of us alone. This "birth of spirit" reminds us of spring, the season when all life is reborn and blooms again. It is appropriate, therefore, that this wedding of James Andrew and Lily Marie be in the spring, and that it be under the open sky, where we are close to the earth and to the unity of life, the totality of living things of which we are part.

The beliefs and thoughts about love which motivate these two people are perhaps best expressed in the words of poet Kahlil Gibran:

'You were born to be together, and together you shall be forevermore.  
You shall be together when the wings of death scatter your days.  
Ay, you shall be together even in your silent memory.  
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,  
And let the winds of the heaven dance between you.  
Love one another, but make not a bondage of love.  
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.  
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.  
Give one another of your bread, but eat not of the same loaf.  
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,  
Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.  
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping,  
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.  
And stand together, yet not too near together,  
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,  
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in shadow."

Do you Lily Marie, knowing this man's love for you and returning it, realizing his strengths and learning from them, recognizing his weaknesses and helping him to overcome them, take James Andrew to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," said Lily, placi the ring on his finger.

"Do you James Andrew, knowing this woman's love for you and returning it, realizing her strengths and learning from them, recognizing her weaknesses and helping her to overcome them, take Lily Marie to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," said James, placing the ring on her finger.

"Let these rings serve as locks–not binding you together–but as keys, unlocking the secrets of your hearts for each other to know, and thus bringing you closer together forever.

And now James Andrew and Lily Marie, seeking the fulfillment of love and marriage, find again that the poet Gibran speaks for them:

"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.  
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks to another day of loving.  
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;  
To return home eventide with gratitude, and then sleep with a prayer  
For the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

And that was just what James did. It wasn't a peck, but it wasn't a full on snog session.

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The newly married couple swayed to the music of their wedding song. Their eyes were closed and their foreheads were pressed together.

"I love you James."

"I love you too Lily."


End file.
